David Byrne and St. Vincent release collaborative album

Former Talking Head David Byrne and Annie Clark release a collaborative album this week, called 'Love This Giant'. The album features a large number of brass instruments.

Two of pop music's most quirky and left-field musicians release an album this week, David Byrne and St Vincent present 'Love This Giant'.

The album promises to be different. The two New York based artists have chosen a brass band as the foundation for the songs over a traditional rock set-up. Brass may conjure up images of staid and stuff instruments. However, as the Rolling Stone reviews, the album promises more in the way of bouncy and playful beats.

Vocals are equally important to the record, as the BBC considers "pleasing combination of the two protagonists’ vocals. Although Byrne’s distinctive voice initially dominates, eventually the beauty and flexibility of Clark’s vocals, and their central role, are revealed."

The two met by chance at concert where Björk was performing with the Brooklyn band Dirty Projectors and agreed to work together on an album.

David Byrne discusses the creative and collaborative process on his blog:

"She sent back some new brass chords and harmonies under one verse section — and that eventually turned into a middle 8 (sometimes called a bridge in the US), and she also sent some melismatic vocal improvisations of her own. I did some further restructuring and began to write words — written to fit the metric and rise and fall of the vocal melody I’d improvised earlier. Many drafts later we had a song."

David Byrne was a founder member, lead singer and chief tunesmith for the innovative 'new wave' band Talking Heads who put out a string of innovative and challenging albums between 1977 and 1988. To select one song which typifies Talking Heads is difficult. Perhaps 'Once in a Lifetime', where Byrne takes on the persona of a manic preacher, or the post-apocalyptic 'Road to Nowhere'.

Since the demise of Talking Heads Byrne has achieved success as a solo artist, from rock and pop music, to Latin influenced music, to classical compositions and the more recent 'gospel' inspired pop collaboration with Brian Eno ("Everything That Happens Will Happen To Day"). In addition to music, Byrne has displayed conceptual artworks and 'curates' a record label which has championed unknown South American artists.

Byrne's most albums were also collaborations: a concept album with British DJ Fatboy Slim about the life of the former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos and the soundtrack to 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' with Brian Eno.

St. Vincent, is the stage name of the US singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Erin Clark. Her albums are 'Marry Me' (2007), 'Actor' (2009) and 'Strange Mercy' (2011). The last album reach #19 on the Billboard chart.